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Solving VoIP one way audio

Solve One Way Audio-Step by Step

One way audio where one side or one party can hear
the other, but not reverse, is typically indicative of something stopping either
the outbound or inbound audio from reaching the receiving party.
One way audio can be caused by network issues; NAT (Network Address
Translation) issues or firewalls, so finding the cause will require
simplification of the connection by elimination of some equipment, then testing.
Once the problem device is found its pretty much initiating changes that resolve
the issue. here's how to troubleshoot one-way audio.

Step One- Check your equipment.

The first thing that you need to eliminate is a
faulty phone, handset earpiece or a headset on a softphone. To
do the do the following:

Softphone- Check that you have audio
in both the earpiece and microphone. Verify that your microphone is
connected properly. Try using Windows Sound Recorder (or another
application) as a check and make sure that the microphone is selected as the
input device in your Control Panel.

Make a test call to yourself and start speaking to verify the
microphone meter is showing movement.

Regular phone- Sometimes the best
testing can be achieved using a simple corded phone. Connect one that
is working correctly, both the mouth piece and ear piece.

IP Phone- Make sure the phone is
functioning correctly.

Step Two- Simplify the connection.

Now that you know the equipment (phone/softphone
with headset) are functioning correctly it's time to simplify the LAN (Local
Area Connection) and the way the VoIP device is connected.
The first step in one way audio troubleshooting is to simplyfy the connections.
This allows you to identify the actual cause of the VoIP one-way audio. Do the following:

Connect the VoIP ATA, IP Phone, or PC with softphone directly to the
modem device. Make sure you get registered and obtain a valid IP
address. In many cases this could be a public IP address. Make a
test call. If one way audio still exists check to see if you have a
public or private (192.168.1.xxx) IP address.

Public IP- Call your VoIP
provider. If you are getting one-way audio with a public IP
address, there is an issue with the way the VoIP provider is handling
the call.

Private IP- If you are getting a
private IP address from your modem it is acting as a NAT router and in
this case preventing the audio from making it to the ATA. Check
for SPI (Statefull Packet Inspection) or any firewall settings
that may be the cause. Turn them off and retest.

If you are getting a private IP address and not able to get two
way audio, you will want to set the modem to bridge mode and allow
your router to act as the only NAT router on the network.
Instructions to do the can be found at
Bridging a DSL modem.

Step Three- Reconfigure your LAN network.

After completing step two you should have achieved a
good two-way audio call.
Now you will want to configure your
network for your VoIP to work correctly. This typically might include
eliminating a second layer of NAT from your network design.

DSL/Cable modem as router-
More and more modems are acting as routers (both hard wired and wireless),
firewalls and handing out DHCP. If you have to keep your modem as the
primary NAT router (perhaps you need the wireless capabilities) then you
will need to eliminate any secondary router from creating a second layer of
NAT.

Use a switch on the LAN in place of a router or disable DHCP on the
second router.

Bridge the modem- Set the
modem to bridge mode and allow the public IP address to sit on the WAN side
of your router. This may require placing
PPPoE settings in your router.
Then this router handles the NAT translations.

Port forwarding-Configuring port forwarding on your
router can be beneficial and resolve many NAT related one-way audio
issues. After completing the best practices with your network you
might use port forwarding as a way to make sure that the router knows where
to send incoming VoIP audio.